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Raymond Palmer (New Earth)
. He began dating law student Jean Loring , eventually becoming exclusive. Both graduating and working in their professions, Ray would frequently ask Jean to marry him, but she would always decline, wanting to establish herself as a lawyer before getting married and settling down. As a physics graduate student, Ray Palmer discovered a tiny fragment of white dwarf star material that had fallen to Earth. Investigating matter compression, Ray theorized that if he were to grind a lens from this fragment and focus ultraviolet light through it, he could shrink anything struck by the light down to a fraction of its original size. Ray rushed off to his laboratory, tried the experiment, and found that it worked exactly as he had imagined, but the objects he shrunk became unstable and exploded moments later. A couple of days later, a disillusioned Ray and some friends became trapped in a cave-in while out spelunking. Ray was forced to risk instability and use the shrinking lens on himself in order to escape the cave and save the lives of his friends. For some reason, however, Ray didn't explode and returned to his normal height. In fact, the shrinking lens worked on his body much better than he had expected, and he developed a set of control devices that gave him limited control over his weight as well as his size. Ray later hypothesized that some unknown "x-factor" in his genetic makeup prevented his atoms from becoming unstable, though many scientists now believe that Ray's ability to shrink was actually made possible by the "Metagene", which is the source of many superhumans' powers. "Birth of the Atom!" Early Career Keeping his discoveries a secret, even from Jean, Ray created the identity of the Atom and began a career of crime fighting in Ivy Town. In his first recorded adventure, the Atom stopped the crook Carl Ballard from exploiting the tiny alien Kulan Dar, to commit his crimes. Foiling this plot, the Atom became a trusted hero in Ivy Town, and established a great working relationship with the local police - "Battle of the Tiny Titans". Next, the Atom defended the wealthy Doctor Gordon Heath from a plot against him orchestrated by his caretaker Bates. - "The Dooms From Beyond" The Atom's heroics made him an ally of the CIA, who sent him overseas to rescue Professor Anton Kraft from foreign spies - "Prisoner in a Test Tube". Returning home, he stopped crooked newspaper reporter Greg Phillips from stealing valuable chess pieces. - "The 'Disappearing Act' Robberies" The Atom met his first super-villain when battling Jason Woodrue, an exile from the Floral Dimension, who attempted to take over the Earth with specially bred plants. The Atom defeated Woodrue with the help of Maya, Queen of the Dryads, who lives in the Floral Dimension - "Master of the Plant World". Atom then stopped jewel thief Bart Tranter with the help of the self proclaimed Mr. Odd - "The Oddest Man on Earth" and recaptured Carl Ballard when he mastered Kulan Dar's teleportation abilities - "The Prisoners Who Vanished". The Atom was used in a bizarre plot by Amos Fortune and other villains to destroy the Justice League of America, using a de-memorizor ray to pit the Atom against the League. With the aid of the Atom, the team of heroes defeated Fortune and his minions, and elected the Atom as a member of their group - "The Menace of the 'Atom' Bomb". After that, the Atom had his first clash with Chronos, a criminal obsessed with time - "The Time Trap". Reconnecting with Professor Hyatt, Ray learned of Hyatt's experiments with the Time Pool, a device of Hyatt's creation allowing him to "fish" for items out of a tiny portal that can bring items through time. As the Atom, Ray traveled back in time to ancient Middle East where he helped a young boy named Hassan best a group of thieves and bring back a golden Dinar for Hyatt's study - "The Secret of 'Al Atom's' Lamp". When simultaneous nuclear explosions on Earth-One and a parallel world caused the two to merge, the Atom helped the JLA prevent the inhabitants of that world from destroying three major cities on Earth to prevent the cataclysm and worked together to revolve the problem - "The Challenge of the Untouchable Aliens". When visiting Happy Harbor, Rhode Island to give a lecture as Ray Palmer, the Atom came to the rescue of Entron Kol, a visitor from a sub-atomic world who was trapped on Earth, and used a wish fulfillment device to try to draw help to his plight - "The Machine That Made ‘Miracles'". Returning to Ivy Town, the Atom foiled an attempt by a crooked photographer named Elkins to frame Tom Parks for crimes he did not commit - "The Case of the Innocent Thief". After that, Ray attended a JLA meeting were the team pondered how to get out of a dangerous scenario posed by one of their fans - "The Cavern of Deadly Spheres". When Ray's colleague, the world-traveling Ted Ralston, was turned into diamond by a strange stone he brought back from one of his expeditions, Ray traveled into the microscopic world inside the gem where he clashed with the Atlantean tyrant Karl Jat - "The Diamond of Deadly Dooms". Next he foiled jewel thief Fred Harris' plot to rob a lake side community using local folklore to hoax the people into thinking the thefts were committed by a ghost - "The Specter of 3000-Moons Lake". The Atom was targeted with the rest of the JLA by the Tornado Tyrant - "The Triumph of the Tornado Tyrant". In another adventure with the Justice League, Ray aided the League in liberating the people of the micro-world of Starzl, whose three android defenders had turned evil - "Journey into the Micro-World". Back in Ivy Town, Atom foiled a plot by stage manager Howard Crane to frame former astronaut Peter Venner for crimes he did not commit, - "The Riddle of the Two-Faced Astronaut" and in a Time Pool adventure he traveled back to 18th century London to foil Dick Turpin's plan to steal the king's gold - "The Highwayman and the Mighty Mite". The Atom and the rest of the JLA were then forced into exile from the planet Earth due to the manipulations of Dr. Destiny, however the JLA foiled this plot, ending their exile - "The Super-Exiles of Earth". While preventing an invasion of Earth from the Thalens, the Atom teamed up with extraterrestrial lawman Hawkman and his partner Hawkgirl, forming a long lasting partnership between the trio - "The Case of the Cosmic Camera". On another Justice League case, the Atom and his fellow JLA members clashed with Spaceman X - "The Mystery of Spaceman X". Later the Atom was present with the JLA in their first team up with the Justice Society of America, their counterparts from Earth-Two, against the Crime Champions, a group of villains from both universes - "Crisis on Earth-One" - "Crisis on Earth-Two". While on the home front, Ray battled an escaped Dr. Light - "Lockup in the Lethal Lightbulb"; stopped Alfred Trask (an art gallery employee) from taking the masterpieces his employer has on display - "The Purloined Miniatures"; battled his evil doppelganger created in a lab experiment gone awry - "The Atom's Phantom Double"; and thwarted an attempted kidnapping of the king of France during a Time Pool adventure to the year 1609 - "The Seaman and the Spyglass". His next meeting with the JLA was less eventful with the group relating their battle against Queen Bee, while Ray told them of his encounter against Dr. Light - "Drones of the Queen Bee". Working with the CIA once again, the Atom went to Vienna to collect the plans for a new anti-gravity metal, and ended up exposing it as a communist plot to destroy America - "Ride a Deadly Grenade". Back home, he foiled Doro Briggs' theft scheme involving hoaxing people into believing that she could transform into a swan - "The Mysterious Swan-Maiden". The Atom aided his fellow Justice League colleagues in once again defeating and capturing their old foe Kanjar Ro - "Decoy Missions of the Justice League" and Kraad the Conqueror, tyrant ruler of a sidereal dimension - "Outcasts of Infinity". Back home, Ray attended an Ivy University ten-year reunion, where he foiled Jack Archer's attempt to use hypnosis to steal a priceless Buddha statue - "Trouble at the Ten-Year Club", followed by a cruise with Jean Loring where he stymied invaders from Randath - "Voyage to Beyond". Next Atom and a number of his fellow JLA members were rapidly aged by Despero, but were later restored to normal following Despero's defeat at the hands of his fellow JLA members who were unaffected - "Four Worlds to Conquer". On the home front, Ray found his powers being used for crime when he temporarily became the prisoner of a crook who used his body as a power source for a ray gun - "Danger -- Atom-Gun at Work" and later used the Time Pool to travel to Baltimore circa 1849 where he helped Edgar Alan Poe solve a mystery involving stolen gold coins - "The Gold Hunters of '49". Atom next aided the Flash in stopping an invasion of Earth by Attila-5 - "The Challenge of the Expanding World". Later the Atom and his friends in the Justice League were manipulated by the ultra-galactic "I", an evil being whose very existence was threatened by the JLA's continued success - "The 'I' Who Defeated the Justice League". In Ivy Town, Ray clashed once more with Chronos - "Weapon Watches of the Time-Wise Guy" and cleared the name of his civilian identity when he was accused of a crime he did not commit - "I Accuse Ray Palmer -- of Robbery". Back with the Justice League, the Atom was present when Green Lantern related a solo adventure to the group - "This World is Mine" and was among the super-powered members of the League to go on "strike" following a UN sanction preventing them from using their powers, all a plot orchestrated by the evil Headmaster Mind - "The Case of the Forbidden Super-Powers". Still with the League, he was present when a video created by Superman's father Jor-El, regarding the other planets he considered sending his son prior to Krypton's destruction - "The Day Superman Became the Flash", was displayed. Resuming his activities in Ivy Town, Ray battled his own costume when it briefly gained sentience - "Revolt of the Atom's Uniform", aided Doc Magnus in rebuilding the Metal Men, and stopped the evil Uranium - "Revenge of the Robot Reject". When visiting his old classmate Ed Thayer, Atom got caught up in an attempt by foreign spies to try to steal Thayer's Illusion-Maker device - "Illusions For Sale" and foiled the teleporting Hyper-Thief's robberies - "The Super-Safecracker Who Defied the Law". Atom was also present when the Justice League invited his ally Hawkman into the group - "Riddle of the Runaway Room", and attended Aquaman's marriage to Mera. Next, while on vacation, Ray became the temporary pawn of criminal inventor Andrew Frost - "Fate of the Flattened-Out Atom", battled Brain Storm with the JLA - "Attack of the Star-Bolt Warrior", crushed the Hooded Hijackers - "Case of the Hooded Hijackers", and used the Time Pool to travel to the 19th Century, where he came to the rescue of writer Jules Verne - "Jules Verne's Crystal Ball". Atom became an unwilling pawn of the Endless One, and was forced to fight some of his fellow JLA members - "Enemy from the Timeless World". When restored to normal, he became a victim in one of Dr. Destiny's plots to get revenge against the JLA - "The Deadly Dreams of Doctor Destiny". The Atom had to combat side-effects of his Time Pool adventures when battling the evil Phantom Mask - "The Hole-in-the-Wall Lawman", and spent a brief time thinking he was a flea in a flea circus when spies attempted to replace Ray Palmer with one of their own agents - "The Atomic Flea". He aided Zatanna in the search for her missing father on a micro-world ruled by the Druid - "World of the Magic Atom". Later, he joined the Justice League in battling Brain Storm once again - "The Case of the Disabled Justice League". Going solo, Atom prevented crooks from benefiting from his "stool-pigeon" computer - "Challenge of the Computer Crooks" and with the aid of Maya and the Dryads posing as Leprechauns, convinced Arthur Ennis to fill a witness report with the police following a robbery -"The Night of the Little People". During his next team up with Hawkman and Hawkgirl against Matter Master, the trio of heroes trusted their secret identities to each other - "Master Trap of the Matter Master". Atom and his fellow JLA members teamed up with the JSA against the evil Johnny Thunder of Earth-One who had manipulated the Thunderbolt into creating Earth-A and the Lawless League, criminal versions of the Justice League - "Earth -- Without a Justice League" - "Crisis on Earth-A". The CIA once again hired the Atom to stop a group of Russian spies who were trying to manipulate Jean Loring's father, in an attempt to get at the Atom - "Combat Under Glass", and on another Time Pool journey to 18th century London, the Atom prevented one of Professor Hyatt's ancestors from being thrown in debtors' prison - "The Adventure of the Canceled Birthday". Atom also aided his fellow JLA members in preventing global disaster and conflict inadvertently created by Andrew Helm's Corti-Conscience machine - "Indestructible Creatures of Nightmare Island". Acting solo, he stopped a common thug named Eddie Gordon from enslaving the Bat-Knights of the Elvaran people - "Bat-Knights of Darkness". Atom next helped Batman, Robin, and Elongated Man capture "Numbers" Garvey and his gang - "Two Batmen Too Many". The Atom also aided the Justice League in defeating the Key during his attack - "The Key-Master of the World". Returning to Ivy Town, the Atom made up a story about alien invaders to make the return of a radion-ball sound like a more exciting adventure - "Riddle of the Far-Out Robbery". He foiled a robbery plot orchestrated by groundskeeper Billy Knowels - "Thief with the Tricky Toy". Atom's powers were briefly pilfered by Professor Ivo in a plot against the Flash, and when the Flash related the story to his fellow JLA members including the Atom, they were unaware of the event as they weren't using their powers then - "The One-Man Justice League". Next Atom joined the Justice League and Metamorpho in battling the Unimaginable - "Metamorpho Says -- No". After liberating the Floral Dimension and Earth from destruction at the hands of Jason Woodrue - "The Atom-Destruction of Earth", the Atom joined the JLA in curing Batman, Green Lantern, and Flash from a plague infected upon them by the Unimaginable - "The Plague That Struck the Justice League". Atom returned to Ivy Town, to foil a series of robberies orchestrated by Bill Jameson, the so-called "Man in the Ion-Mask" - "The Man in the Ion Mask". Working with the CIA once more, the Atom traveled to Russia to foil Boris Kalumchuk's plot to poison America with irradiated gold - "The Spy Who Went Out for the Gold". Ray joined the Justice League of America in their battle against the Shaggy Man - "The Super-Struggle Against Shaggy Man". Engagement to Jean Loring Back in Ivy Town, the Atom earned a new villain - the Bug-Eyed Bandit. During this adventure Jean accepted his proposal for marriage for fear that Ray would eventually become too absorbed in his work to ask her anymore - "The Eye-Popping Perils of the Insect Bandit". When both Earth-One and Earth-Two were threatened by the Anti-Matter Man, the Atom was one of the Justice League and Justice Society members to gather to combat the threat - "Crisis Between Earth-One and Earth-Two" - "The Bridge Between Earths". Going solo in Ivy Town once again, the Atom crushed the Panther Gang - "Beauty and the Beast-Gang" and went on another Time Pool journey to 18th century France where he foiled an assassination attempt against Benjamin Franklin - "Stowaway on a Hot-Air Balloon". Returning to the JLA, the Atom aided them in stopping the Lord of Time from manipulating Vietnam war hero Sgt. Eddie Brent - "The Lord of Time Attacks the 20th Century". Returning home, Atom clashed with his old foe Chronos again - "Time-Standstill Thefts". Later, when the entire population of Ivy Town suddenly shrunk, Ray learned that the cause was a chunk of white dwarf star matter landing in the city water supply, and cured the people with no ill side effects - "The 100,000 'Atoms' of Ivy Town". Ray worked together with his Earth-Two counterpart in foiling a plot by the Thinker to rob Earth-One and escape to Earth-Two - "The Thinker's Earth-Shaking Robberies". At a JLA meeting, Atom, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Batman and Elongated Man all learned of Zatanna's success in freeing her father with the help of magical proxies that she created of the heroes, following her respective encounters with each of them - "Z -- as in Zatanna -- and Zero Hour". Ray returned to Ivy Town where he stumbled upon and foiled another plot by Eddie Gordon to manipulate the Elvarian Bat-Knights - "Daze of the Bat-Knights". He was also present when the JLA had to face the evil Mastermind, who had turned many of the League members' weapons against them - "Secret Behind the Stolen Super-Weapons". Atom teamed-up with Hawkman once again to search for the missing Johnny Burns, a reformed crook, to reunite him with his sick mother. During the encounter, they battled Toyboy, Johnny's evil half brought to life when Mrs. Burns was briefly endowed with mental powers following a scientific accident - "Good Man, Bad Man – Turnabout Thief". Rejoining the JLA, Atom foiled the Royal Flush Gang's attempt to destroy the League - "History-Making Costumes of the Royal Flush Gang". When paralyzed in a lab accident, Ray managed to get Jean to activate his size-control devices causing him to shrink to microscopic size, freeing him of the paralysis. Before returning to Earth, he saved the sub-atomic people of Palonds from the evil Honds - "The Up and Down Dooms of the Atom". The Atom was also present to cheer on a UN-sponsored charity race between Superman and the Flash - "Superman's Race with the Flash". He later teamed-up with Aquaman against the plankton creature called Galg the Destroyer . After a rematch against the Bug-Eyed Bandit - "Amazing Arsenal of the Atom-Assassin", the Atom teamed-up with the Elongated Man against Chronos - "The Treacherous Time-Trap". After battling the Big Gang - "Little Man -- You've Had a Big-Gang Day", witnessing another race between Superman and the Flash - "The Race to the End of the Universe", and foiling "Smarts" and his gang - "Plight of the Pin-Up Atom", Atom had another Time Pool adventure to London to prevent Colonel Tom Blood from stealing the crown jewels from the Tower of London - "Col. Blood Steals the Crown Jewels". The Atom was one of the members of the Justice League to be enslaved by Queen Bee, until they were saved by BatgirlJustice League of America #60 - "Winged Warriors of the Immortal Queen". In another revenge plot against the Justice League, Dr. Destiny briefly switched the League's bodies with some of their greatest foes. For a time, Atom was forced to trade bodies with Jason Woodrue, until Dr. Destiny's ultimate defeatJustice League of America #61 - "Operation:Jail the Justice League". When twin transmitter towers on Earth-One and Earth-Two caused people to rapidly age either forward or backward, Earth-Two's Atom had to briefly battle a young and hot-headed Ray Palmer before destroying the towers and returning everyone back to normalThe Atom #36 - "Duel Between the Dual Atoms". Atom worked with Batman in stopping the Cannoneer from robbing the Brotherhood ExpressThe Brave and the Bold #77 - "So Thunders the Cannoneer". The Atom was also involved in a Justice League case where the group was embroiled in a gang war between the Pyrotekniks and the Bulleteers in a complex scheme hatched by mobster Leo LockeJustice League of America #62 - "Panic from a Blackmail Box". The Atom soon gained an unusual ally in his next adventure, Major Mynah, a mynah bird that he meets while stopping a group of Viet Cong soldiers from raiding a Cambodian temple while on an archeological dig in the region. With the bird injured in the battle, Atom took the helpful creature to Hawkman who replaced the bird's broken wings with mechanical ones. Major Mynah became Ray's pet, following him in both his civilian and costumed identities. After helping the Atom capture crooks, Major Mynah's involvement almost tips Jean off to Ray's secret identity and so he came up with a method of disguising Mynah for future adventures.The Atom #37 - "Meet Major Mynah". The Atom returned to the Justice League and foiled the Key's plot of using Superman to destroy the JLAJustice League of America #63 - "Time Signs a Death-Warrant for the Justice League", and later battled Dr. AnomalyJustice League of America #240 - "The Future Ain't What It Used to Be". Ray and Major Mynah went into action to stop an invasion by the alien Physalians who fed on the humans they have capturedThe Atom #38 - "Sinister Stopover... Earth". The Atom was one of the JLA members seemingly killed by T.O. Morrow, and was restored to life following Morrow's defeat at the hands of the JSA, their new ally Red Tornado and surviving members of the JLAJustice League of America #65 - "T.O. Morrow Kills the Justice League -- Today". Justice League Mainstay As time went on, Ray eventually got less involved in solo adventures, often teaming up with either Hawkman or getting involved in many of the Justice League's cases. Ray joined Carter and Shiera Hall on vacation in Mexico City and battled Telka and his followersThe Atom and Hawkman #39 - "Vengeance of the Silver Vulture". With the Justice League, the Atom battled the laughable Generalissimo Demmy Gog of Offalia, in a pathetic attempt to conquer the worldJustice League of America #66 - "Divided -- They Fall". The Atom was hired by the FBI to break up a spy ring. He succeeded, thanks to the intervention of Major Mynah. This would mark the Atom's last use of Major Mynah. The bird's ultimate fate is unknownThe Atom and Hawkman #40 - "The Explosive Exploit of the Split-Atom". Atom also found himself involved in a revenge plot enacted by criminal Jason Madden, who attempted to kill his former accomplice Chuck WheelerThe Atom and Hawkman #41 - "Return of the Seven-Year Dead Man". Atom aided the Justice League in clearing Green Arrow's name in a murder frame-up plotted by Headmaster Mind and the Tattooed ManJustice League of America #69 - "A Matter of Menace". Ray was involved in a Justice League investigation of the new costumed vigilante known as the CreeperJustice League of America #70 - "Versus the Creeper". While attending a science convention with Carter Hall, Ray and Carter were attacked by a man resembling Carter. This got them embroiled in a battle against the Shiva, Hindu goddess of destruction, who with her army of Nether-Men was attempting to win back worship of humanity. Through the efforts of the Atom, Hawkman, and Hawkgirl, the plot was thwartedThe Atom and Hawkman #42 - "When Gods Make Madness". The Atom joined his fellow Justice League colleagues in traveling to Mars and aiding their comrade Martian Manhunter against the evil Commander Blanx, a battle that ended with J'onn J'onzz's resignation from the teamJustice League of America #71 - "...and So My World Ends". Ray next went into action as the Atom to foil a plot by rival university professor Horace McByrd to discredit Ray among his peersThe Atom and Hawkman #43 - "Buzzin', Buzzin' -- Who's Got the Buzzin'?". Ray joined the JLA and Hawkgirl in saving Hawkman who had been turned into salt by a group of demons, fighting off their minions - a biker gang known as the Gruesome Ghouls - in the processJustice League of America #72 - "13 Days to Doom". When Professor Heinrich Von Rilk was almost assaulted by Ivy University students for destroying an electron-microscope, Ray learns that Von Rilk did it to prevent an invasion from a microscopic world. Investigating the claims as the Atom, Ray confirms Heinrich's story, and stops the invasion by defeating its vanguard, a creature known as AgThe Atom and Hawkman #44 - "Hate is Where You Find It". Atom was among the members of the Justice League and Justice Society who banded together to save both universes from the threat of Aquarius, a living star creature bent on revenge for being exiled by his superiorsJustice League of America #73 - "Star Light, Star Bright -- Death Star I See Tonight"Justice League of America #74 - "Where Death Fears to Tread". When Jean Loring was kidnapped by the people of Jimberen, a microscopic world who believed that she is the descendant of their ruler, Atom and Hawkman teamed-up to rescue her. However, due to the radiation the people of Jimberen exposed Jean to, she was driven insane from the ordeal. The technology on Hawkman and Hawkgirl's homeworld, Thanagar, was advanced enough that it was possible to cure Jean, so Atom entrusted her to the care of HawkgirlThe Atom and Hawkman #45 - "Queen Jean, Why Must We Die?". Focusing on Justice League business, Atom was one of the members who accidentally created an evil duplicate of himself with his ego, which battled the new Justice League member Black CanaryJustice League of America #72 - "In Each Man There is a Demon". When an influential man named John Dough attempted to turn the United States government and American people against the JLA, manipulating Snapper Carr into betraying the group, the Atom got involved in the conflict, which revealed Dough to be none other than the JokerJustice League of America #77 - "Snapper Carr -- Super-Traitor!". Atom and the Justice League soon set up shop in a new base, an orbital satellite above the EarthJustice League of America #78. During this time, Atom and the other members of the JLA teamed up with the Vigilante against the Doomsters, aliens who threatened to pollute the EarthJustice League of America #78 - "The Coming of the Doomsters"Justice League of America #79 - "Come Slowly Death, Come Slyly!". Ray ultimately learned that Hawkgirl's quest to restore Jean's sanity on Thanagar was met with trouble when both women's souls were stolen by Norch Lor, a scientist from Thanagar, whose misguided plan to save the universe from the coming "end of all things" was attempting to collect the souls of all living beings in a Ghenna Box. With the help of Tomar-Re of the Green Lantern Corps, Ray and the Justice League restored Hawkgirl and Jean's souls to their bodies, Jean however was still insaneJustice League of America #80 - "Night of the Soul-Stealer!". Atom and Hawkman traveled together en route to Thanagar to try and get Jean the help she needs, and along the way ran into the threat that Norch Lor was attempting to protect them from: The insane Jest-Master, who left all those in his path completely mad. With the help of the Justice League, Atom and Hawkman defeated the Jest-Master. In the aftermath of the battle, Jean's constant exposure to Jest-Master's insanity rays restored her sanityJustice League of America #81 - "Plague of the Galactic Jest-Master. Returning to Earth, the Atom again joined the Justice League and the Justice Society in preventing another threat to both Earth-One and Earth-Two, this time coming from a being called Creator2, whom by utilizing Red Tornado's connection to both realities, attempted to merge the two universes together, threatening to destroy both. Atom and his colleagues foiled this plot. However, the Spectre seemingly perished in the processJustice League of America #82 - "Peril of the Paired Planets"Justice League of America #82 - "Where Valor Fails... Will Magic Triumph?". Sword of the Atom Ray and Jean's marriage became more strained over time as Jean's law practice and Ray's devotion to both science and super-heroics took time over their romance. Soon, Jean began an affair with her fellow lawyer Paul Hoben, which Ray stumbled upon one night. Realizing their marriage was on the rocks, Ray decided to investigate White Dwarf star radiations he detected in South America without Jean. Taking a flight with some drug runners, he learned too much about an illegal cocaine field, prompting the pilots to attempt to kill Ray. However, the pilot was shot and Ray jumped ship and shrunk down to Atom size. Ray was then struck by lightning, trapping him at a height of six inches. The plane crashed, and because one of the men aboard stole one of Ray's rings, the world presumed him dead and Jean went on with her life and pursued her relationship with Paul. Ray meanwhile found himself captured by aliens known as the Katarthans—small aliens whose ancestors were left on Earth centuries ago and lived in a world of high technology and barbarism. With a revolt immanent, Ray was captured along with members of a resistance led by Taren . Forced into gladiator battles, Ray learned the Katarthans' language, befriended Taren, and learned that he hoped to overthrow their leader Caellich and marry princess Laethwen. The two men unknowingly became the pawns of Deraegis who seeked to cause the people to revolt against Caellich so that he could rule. To this end, he blinded Taren, causing the people to protest. Taren, Atom, and Laethwen escaped the arena and fled into the jungles where they reunited with the rebels . Knowing his end is near, Taren turned over leadership of the rebels to Atom, and perished while the group fled an army of carnivorous ants. Atom and Laethwen soon fell in love with each other. Atom led the warriors on to Moralaidh to launch a revolution . In the final battle, both Caellich and Deraegis were slain, but not before Deraegis activated an old star drive powered by a white dwarf star fragment. Attempting to save his newly adopted people, Ray dived into the plant to try and stop the reactor from exploding. However the white star radiation caused him to grow as it irradiated him and smashed his way through. Growing to near human height, Ray frightened the people away before the reactor exploded. Restored to his normal height and in a delirium caused by radiation exposure, Ray passed out and was found by rescuers. Waking up in the hospital, Ray came to realize that he no longer had an interest in returning to his old life and had moved on from Jean. Having learned that Jean had come to South America looking for him, he decided to finalize their divorce and try to find Laethwen again . Returning to Ivy Town to settle his affairs, Ray realized that there was no way to rekindle his romance with Jean. In repairing his size change belt, Ray found that the process of shrinking caused him great pain due to his absorption of massive amounts of white dwarf radiation and feared that constantly changing his size would eventually kill him. Finalizing his divorce with Jean, Ray put his money in an expedition back to South America, taking along with him writer Norman Brawler to chronicle the experience. The two men ran afoul of drug dealers and Ray shrunk down to Atom, giving up his normal height seemingly for the last time to help destroy the drug operation. Finding the Moralaidh tribe and being reunited with Laethwen, Ray left Norman to find his own way back. Norman later published the tale in a book called The Atom's Farewell, which became a best seller . Ray led Laethwen's people in building a new New Moralaidh and rebuilding the alien societies' lost technology. He and Laethwen would become wed as well. However, his past life could not stay away, as after Jean married Paul Hoben, the newly weds cleared out Ray's lab and she accidentally shrunk herself. In order to restore her to her normal height, Paul had Norman Brawler lead him and Jean to Ray. However, along the way, Jean was captured by minions the of rebel leader Torgul who had captured many of the Moralaidhian women including Laethwen. Ray led a mission to rescue the captured women, which ended in Torgul's death, and the freedom of his people. With Jean restored to her normal height, Ray and Laethwen wished them farewell, Ray leaving Paul with his old size changing belt . Ray remained New Moralaidh's champion, but sometimes returned to aid his old allies in the Justice League of America. Crisis on Infinite Earths When the evil Anti-Monitor attempted to destroy the entire multiverse, his opposing force the Monitor sacrificed his life to shunt the five surviving realities into limbo. However they were slowly merging together causing chaos on all worlds and threatening their destruction in the process . Alexander Luthor, Jr. of Earth-Three and the Harbinger gathered heroes and villains from all realities in an attempt to rally their support in saving what was left of the multiverse. Atom was among their numbers and agreed to aid in the effort . Ray was called in to examine the Red Tornado, who was recaptured by the heroes following a lengthy captivity under the Anti-Monitor who converted the android into an engine of destruction. However, despite the best efforts of the Atom and T.O. Morrow, the Red Tornado self-destructed, causing massive damage to the JLA Satellite, and apparently destroying the Red Tornado . Later on in the Crisis, when a united group of super-villains from each surviving reality attempted to conquer each earth, Atom was among a group of super-heroes dispatched to Earth-S to attempt to quell the uprising in that reality . Although the heroes there were made prisoner, the Atom was part of a counter attack of heroes that weren't captured, and succeeded in freeing Billy Batson, allowing the boy to change into Captain Marvel and turn the tides of the battle . Changes Caused by Crisis on Infinite Earths Following the defeat of the Anti-Monitor, the surviving parallel worlds were combined to create a new universe. While much of the Atom's Pre-Crisis history remains the same, many of his past adventures may have been altered or erased from existence entirely. In particular, Atom's encounters with Hawkman may be different (if they still exist) given the extensive changes of Hawkman's origins. The Thanagarian Katar Hol is replaced in Post-Crisis history with Earth native Carter Hall the Hawkman formerly from Earth-Two. In addition, due to the massive changes in the histories of his fellow JLA colleagues Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, the Atom's history may have been altered by proxy and many of his adventures alongside these heroes are no longer part of history. In addition, many of the adventures that the Atom had with the Justice League of America that involved traveling to other universes, particularly their encounters with the Justice Society of America on Earth-Two, likely no longer exist, or if they do, in a vastly different manner such that the multiversal threat was simply a threat to a single unified universe. Lastly, the Atom's encounters with his Earth-Two counterpart may no longer be part of history, or if they are, they have been altered in such a way to accommodate the notion that these adventures only happened in a single universe as opposed to having occurred on Earth-One and Earth-Two. Post-Crisis Revised Origins See Power of the Atom The Katarthans and their village were soon wiped out by a horrible fire and the Atom returned to Ivy Town, only to find that one of his friends had written a book exposing Ray's secret identity in his absence. Power of the Atom After battling various foes, such as Strobe, Humbug, and Swarm, Ray learned that a US Government agency had engineered the destruction of the Katarthans, in order to induce his return to the States. He avenged the Katarthans by permanently reducing the agents responsible for the massacre to six inches in height. Ray returned to Ivy Town just long enough to bid his friends farewell, and then briefly went into hiding. Suicide Squad The shrunken agents, now calling themselves the Micro Squad, vowed revenge on Ray. Ginsburg, one of their number, made an attempt on Ray's life, but died in the attempt. Ray approached Amanda Waller, who convinced him to fake his own death and secretly join the espionage unit known as the Suicide Squad. As a part of this mission, Ray went undercover and Adam Cray served in the Suicide Squad as the new Atom. Adam was killed by Blacksnake and Ray resumed the role of the Atom. Later still, he joined the then-current Justice League on a semi-active basis. Teen Titans Al Pratt, the original Atom, died during a battle against Extant in Zero Hour. During this event, Ray was also hit with a blast of chrono-energy that de-aged him into a youth again. , see excerpt He would go on to become a member of the Teen Titans. Identity Crisis In time, Ray and Jean were able to be friends again. In the divorce she had received half of his patents. As a gesture of friendship, Jean decided to sign them back to him. Little did he know that this was but one of many facets to Jean's deadly scheme to win Ray back. Since their divorce, Jean had somehow become seriously deranged and believed that the only way to be reunited with Ray was to force the issue. Incredibly, she devised an elaborate plan to endanger Sue Dibny, wife of Elongated Man, Ralph Dibny. Jean was privy to the fact that every year on her birthday, Ralph would be absent solving a custom-tailored mystery devised by Sue. She bypassed the Dibnys' security by shrinking down and traveling via the phone lines into their home. She then entered Sue's body and obstructed the blood flow to her brain. To cover up this evidence, Jean scorched Sue's body. Jean knew that this event would send all the heroes scrambling to protect their loved ones and—hopefully—drive Ray back into her arms. Jean employed two other schemes to cover her tracks. First, she faked an attempt on her life ; then she hired Captain Boomerang to kill Robin's father Jack Drake. She supplied Drake with a gun to defend himself, hoping that Boomerang would be killed and that everyone would believe he was Sue's killer as well. Eventually, Dr. Mid-Nite's autopsy of Sue's body revealed the truth, and the Atom himself elicited a confession from Jean after she inadvertently spilled the beans when asking about a letter sent to Jack along with the gun. Ray managed to put two and two together, because Batman had taken the letter away from the crime scene even before the police arrived, so only he and the Leaguers were supposed to know of its existence. She was promptly admitted to Arkham Asylum . With Jean's incarceration, Ray was overwhelmed with despair, and shrank continuously until he vanished completely into a microscopic or subatomic world. Ray's legacy would continue on with Ryan Choi utilizing a version of his costume and shrinking device to become the current Atom for a short time. Countdown During the missing year following the events known as the second Crisis, Palmer's technology was employed by Supernova to shrink and grow in size in order to enter and exit the bottle city of Kandor. Ray took refuge the Nanoverse, and met a young mystic who told him about the new reformed existence of the Multiverse. He traveled through different realities and found himself in Earth-51, where the heroes had eradicated supercrime and created a utopian Earth. There he witnessed his Earth-51 counterpart's death and took his role in this reality, including marrying this world's Jean Loring. While there he studied much about his Earth-51 counterpart and discovered that he never became the Atom, though he acted as a scientist consultant to the Earth-51 Justice League. Also, this Ray was gifted with the ability to be immune to all kinds of diseases and viruses. Furthermore, the Earth-51 Palmer had worked on preventing the deadly Morticoccus Virus, and knowing that in every reality of the Multiverse, there is deadly chance that the virus would appear, he decided to travel the Multiverse and inoculate the inhabitants of each universe with his immune system. Realizing the importance of his counterpart's work, Ray carried on Earth-51 Ray's work and traveled to different worlds, inoculating each denizen of every Earth with a resistance to the Morticoccus Virus. Unbeknownst to Ray, the Monitors and the Challengers from Beyond (Kyle Rayner, Donna Troy, Jason Todd and Bob the Monitor) were scouring the reformed Multiverse for him as they believe that he may be the one to prevent a cataclysm known as the Great Disaster. Eventually the Challengers discovered him and learned about his history on Earth-51. Shortly afterwards, Bob reveals his intention to kill Ray. With the Challengers' help, Ray escaped but witnessed the death of his Earth-51 friends and his alternate wife. Despite what the Challengers were told by the Monitors, Ray revealed to them that it was the Ray Palmer of Earth-51 who was meant to stop the Great Disaster. After joining the Challengers, teaming up with Jimmy Olsen, Forager, Harley Quinn, Holly Robinson, Mary Marvel, and Firestorm on Apokolips, Ray discovers that Karate Kid was infected with the Morticoccus Virus. Following the damages to the planet by the Pied Piper and Brother Eye, Ray secretly eavesdropped on Monitor Solomon and Darkseid, learning that Darkseid wanted to remake reality and Solomon wanted the Great Disaster to happen. Alerted by this, Ray returned to the others and was pressured into curing Karate Kid. Ray and the others were then teleported back to the reconstructed Earth-51, to seek advanced medical attention from Project Cadmus; however, by the time they got to Cadmus, Karate Kid was already dead. Ray helped the scientists at Cadmus to find a cure to the Morticoccus Virus after the virus was released to the world. Despite everything he had done, the Great Disaster prevailed, forcing Ray and his friends to return to their Earth. After returning to their world, Jimmy Olsen was kidnapped by Mary Marvel, who had been corrupted by Darkseid. Ray hitched a ride from within Jimmy. When Darkseid took control of Jimmy's powers, Ray located and shut down the control sphere inside Jimmy's brain, but was then swarmed by Apokoliptan antibodies. While escaping this onslaught, Ray discovered the "battery" containing the New God spirit energies. Ray removes it from Jimmy's head and shatters it, releasing the energies. Ray later (after much cajoling) joined Donna, Kyle, and Forager in their new mission as border guards to the Multiverse, realizing that there is nothing left for him on New Earth anymore. However, Palmer returns to New Earth one more time, upon realizing that his old nemesis Chronos had taken his identity to mislead a young pretender, Ryan Choi. After helping his successor to once again save Ivy Town, he returns to the Multiverse with a new sense of fulfillment, leaving his town in the hands of a new, capable hero. During the Final Crisis, Ray returned to New Earth and worked with Choi again to help evacuate the last free humans. Blackest Night During the events of the Blackest Night, Ray asks Hawkman to visit his wife Jean Loring's grave, to honor her as a fallen member of the community, but Hawkman refuses due to her murdering Sue Dibny. Ray later called Hawkman again, over the phone (unaware that his friend has been killed and resurrected as a Black Lantern). Atom was then invited to visit Carter in order to discuss his heartache over his wife, when the deceased Carter actually planned on killing him. ]] Arriving at Carter's house, he was attacked by the Black Lantern Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and only escaped by miniaturizing himself and hiding in Carter's Black Lantern Ring. Ray did a thorough exploration of the ring, discovering that it was nothing like Hal Jordan's power ring, instead made of dark matter with micro-wormholes sending energy to an unknown source. Jumping out, he helped Hal and Barry Allen fight off the Black Lantern Justice Leaguers, with his compassion attracting the Black Lantern Dibnys. Ralph mocked Ray for still being love with Jean after she killed Sue, but the two Dibny Lanterns were destroyed by the Indigo Tribe, the wielders of the indigo light of compassion, then teleporting the three living Leaguers to the Hall of Justice, where they met up with Firestorm Jason Rusch and Mera. After Indigo-1, leader of the Indigo Tribe, explained that the Black Lanterns were expressions of darkness which considered the living to be invaders, Barry and Hal pointed out that Ralph and Sue had no reaction to each others' attack, leading Ray to conclude that the Black rings were some sort of organic computer that rebooted the body without restoring their essences. Before they could plan a proper counter-attack, the Black Lantern League arrived and attacked, and the Indigo Tribe teleported Hal away, leaving Ray, Barry, and Mera without a means to effectively fight the Black Lanterns. Ray was almost turned into a Black Lantern by a reanimated Batman, but was ultimately protected by an unknown force. Ganthet inducts him into the Indigo Tribe as a deputy for his strong compassion. ]] Indigo-1 claimed that she can teleport the armies of each Lantern Corps onto Earth, if given time to meditate, so the responsibility falls to Ray to protect her while she does so. Before she enters her trance, she revealed to Ray that the indigo staff and his overwhelming compassion allows him to mimic the other powers of the Lantern Corps; she demonstrates this by temporarily becoming a Red Lantern and vomiting corrosive blood all over an attacking company of Black Lanterns. She then enters her trance, while Ray fights off Black Lanterns Hawkman and Hawkgirl by temporarily becoming an Orange Lantern, loudly proclaiming "I want my friends back!" He then summons two orange energy duplicates of Khufu and Chay-Ara to help him fight off his and Indigo-1's attackers. He is briefly successful, but then Jean shows up to torment him, and leaped into Indigo-1's ring. Ray followed her, and ended up reliving Sue Dibny's death, and was then attacked by various Black Lantern Morlaidhans, the miniscule race he befriended during his time in the Amazon jungle years before. He fought them off and--summoning the powers of a Green Lantern--destroys Jean. Indigo-1 managed to summon the various armies and thanks Ray for his help. He told her to keep his involvement in the deployment of the troops a secret, and asked that she help him find a way to legitimately resurrect Hawkman and Hawkgirl. | Powers = * : For some reason, Ray's physiology allows him to not explode when he is miniaturized unlike other living things which explode after a short time of being miniaturized. | Abilities = * : Ray Palmer often finds himself in situation where physical violence become necessary. As such, he has developed a proficiency in the martial art judo. * : Dr. Palmer has a Ph.D. in physics and was a full professor at Ivy University. * : The Atom used a long sword as a weapon while living among the Katarthans, gaining considerable skill in its use. | Strength = | Weaknesses = * : During the events of Convergence, he allowed Baracuda to cut off his left hand to save Ryan Choi from the miniverse. | Equipment = * Bio-Belt: Originally, Ray's size/weight controls were located in his belt buckle. However, he later moved them to his gloves for greater accessibility and swifter transitions, and in the costume he wore after his days in New Morlaidh, had an encepholpathic grid in his mask that allowed him to do it mentally. ** : Able to shrink his body to varying degrees (including the subatomic level), achieved by storing most of his mass in a pocket dimension. As the Atom, Ray can assume any size from his normal six-foot stature down to sub-microscopic, although he generally deems a height of six inches as most functional. ** : Able to instantly alter his molecular density to whatever degree he desires. Ray can also assume any weight at any height—up to his full 180 pounds. ** : He is able to glide on air currents and stiff breezes. A favorite travel method Ray had, was to call some location on the telephone; when the intended phone answered, he could shrink down enough to literally travel through the phone lines in seconds to emerge out of the answering phone. ** : By shifting all his mass into his fists he can punch with incredible force. ** : Ray found out that by shrinking beyond the subatomic scale he could slip beneath reality at the quantum level to traverse around the multiverse at will. | Transportation = | Weapons = * Katarthan's Sword: The Atom used a long sword as a weapon while living among the Katarthans, gaining considerable skill in its use. * Indigo Tribe Staff: | Notes = * The Atom's civilian identity was included by Julius Schwartz as a homage to the notorious science fiction editor . | Trivia = * Ray cannot travel through cell phone connections like he could through hard-line phone connections. | Recommended = * * * * * | Wikipedia = Atom (comics) | Links = * Atom series index at Dark Mark's Indexing Domain *Power of the Atom--a blog * |Personality = Ray Palmer is a hard-working, dedicated man. In fact, "dedicated" is hardly the word for it; "driven" is a little closer to the truth. Once Ray starts working on a problem or puzzle, there is absolutely no stopping him. This single-minded pursuit of his goals is more than a little responsible for Ray's shattered marriage, though it has occasionally come in handy to Ray the crime fighter. In spite of his obsessiveness, Ray is a level-headed hero and a likable human being.}} Category:Atom Category:Lighter Than Air Society members Category:Indigo Tribe members Category:Ivy Town